Solar Sail Propulsion for Interplanetary Small Spacecraft
Les Johnson NASA MSFC SLS EM-1 Secondary Payloads
• HEOMD’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) selected 3 cubesats for flight on SLS EM1 • Primary selection criteria: - Relevance to Space Exploration Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs) - Life cycle cost - Synergistic use of previously demonstrated technologies - Optimal use of available civil servant workforce
Payload Strategic Knowledge Gaps Mission Concept NASA Centers Addressed BioSentinel Human health/performance in high- Study radiation-induced DNA ARC/JSC radiation space environments damage of live organisms in cis- • Fundamental effects on biological systems lunar space; correlate with of ionizing radiation in space environments measurements on ISS and Earth Lunar Flashlight Lunar resource potential Locate ice deposits in the Moon’s JPL/MSFC • Quantity and distribution of water and other permanently shadowed craters volatiles in lunar cold traps
Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Human NEA mission target identification Flyby/rendezvous and characterize Scout • NEA size, rotation state (rate/pole position) one NEA that is candidate for a MSFC/JPL How to work on and interact with NEA human mission surface • NEA surface mechanical properties 2 NEA Scout and Lunar Flashlight
Both Use Solar Sail Propulsion and 6U CubeSats
Speakers Bureau 3 HOW DOES A SOLAR SAIL WORK?
Solar sails use photon “pressure” or force on thin, lightweight reflective sheet to produce thrust.
4 ECHO II 1964 SOLAR THRUST AFFECT ON SPACECRAFT ORBIT
• 135-foot rigidized inflatable balloon satellite • laminated Mylar plastic and aluminum • placed in near-polar Orbit • passive communications experiment by NASA on January 25, 1964
When folded, satellite was packed into the 41-inch diameter canister shown in the foreground.
5 Znamya (Space Mirror)
♦ Russian experiment that flew on Progress after undocking from Mir Space Station in 1993. ♦ Purpose was to reflect sunlight onto the ground from space. ♦ 20-m diameter sail successfully deployed ♦ 5-km spot illuminated Europe from France to Russia moving at 8 km/sec. ♦ Follow-on mission flew, but was damaged during deployment.
6 NASA GROUND TESTED SOLAR SAILS IN THE 2000’S
♦ Two solar sail technologies were designed, fabricated, and tested under thermal vacuum conditions in 2005: ♦ 10 m system ground demonstrators (developed and tested in 2004/2005) ♦ 20 m system ground demonstrators (designed, fabricated, and tested) ♦ Developed and tested high-fidelity computational models, tools, and diagnostics ♦ Multiple efforts completed: materials evaluation, optical properties, long-term environmental effects, charging issues, and assessment of smart adaptive structures
7 NASA’S 400 SQ. METER SOLAR SAIL DEMONSTRATOR IN GROUND TEST NASA SPACE TECHNOLOGY DEMO (2009)
Planned to be a space flight demonstration of the solar sail developed and tested as part of the ground sail test program
9 NASA SPACE TECHNOLOGY DEMO (2009)
Planned to be a space flight demonstration of the solar sail developed and tested as part of the ground sail test program
10 THE PLANETARY SOCIETY’S COSMOS-1 (2005)
• 100 kg spacecraft • 8 triangular sail blades deployed from a central hub after launch by the inflating of structural tubes. • Sail blades were each 15 m long • Total surface area of 600 square meters • Launched in 2005 from a Russian Volna Rocket from a Russian Delta III submarine in the Barents Sea:
11 THE PLANETARY SOCIETY’S COSMOS-1 (2005)
• 100 kg spacecraft • 8 triangular sail blades deployed from a central hub after launch by the inflating of structural tubes. • Sail blades were each 15 m long • Total surface area of 600 square meters • Launched in 2005 from a Russian Volna Rocket from a Russian Delta III submarine in the Barents Sea:
Rocket Failed
12 NANOSAIL-D DEMONSTRATION SOLAR SAIL
♦ Mission Description: ♦ 10 m2 sail ♦ Made from tested ground demonstrator hardware
13 NANOSAIL-D1 FLIGHT (2008)
Launch • Falcon-1, flight 3 • Kwajalein, Missile Range • Primary payload: AFRL PnPSat • Secondary P-POD payloads (2)
14 NANOSAIL-D1 FLIGHT (2008)
Launch • Falcon-1, flight 3 • Kwajalein, Missile Range • Primary payload: AFRL PnPSat • Secondary P-POD payloads (2)
Rocket Failed
15 NANOSAIL-D2 MISSION CONFIGURATION (2010)
Spacecraft Bus Boom & Sail (Ames Research Spool Center) (ManTech SRS) Bus interfaces Actuation Electronics (MSFC/UAH)
NanoSail-D (Aluminum Closeout Panels Not Shown) PPOD Deployer (Cal-Poly) Stowed Configuration
AFRL Satellite (Trailblazer)
Adapter
NSD-002 NSD-001 PreSat (ARC) NanoSail-D (MSFC) Ride Share Adapter ♦ 3U Cubesat: 10 cm X 10 cm X 34 cm (Space Access Technology) ♦ Deployed CP-1 sail: 10 m2 Sail Area (3.16 m side length) ♦ 2.2 m Elgiloy Trac Booms HSV-1 ♦ UHF and S-Band communications 17 Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun (IKAROS 2010)
18 SUNJAMMER SOLAR SAIL DEMONSTRATION MISSION
Design Heritage: ♦ Cold Rigidization Boom Technology ♦ Distributed Load Design ♦ Aluminized Sun Side ♦ High Emissivity Eclipse Surface ♦ Beam Tip Vane Control ♦ Spreader System Design
83 m2 ISP L’Garde Solar Sail 2004
318 m2 ISP L’Garde Solar Sail 2005
Design Features: ♦ High density packagability ♦ Controlled linear deployment ♦ Structural scalability ♦ Propellantless operation 1200 m2 L’Garde Sunjammer ♦ Meets current needs SUNJAMMER SOLAR SAIL DEMONSTRATION MISSION
Design Heritage: ♦ Cold Rigidization Boom Technology ♦ Distributed Load Design ♦ Aluminized Sun Side ♦ High Emissivity Eclipse Surface ♦ Beam Tip Vane Control ♦ Spreader System Design
83 m2 ISP L’Garde Solar Sail 2004
318 m2 ISP L’Garde Solar Sail 2005
Design Features: ♦ High density packagability ♦ Controlled linear deployment ♦ Structural scalability ♦ Propellantless operation 1200 m2 L’Garde Sunjammer Launch ♦ Meets current needs 2015 SOLAR SAILS TODAY – MANY MISSIONS PLANNED
• NASA’s NEA Scout and Lunar Flashlight • The Planetary Society’s LightSail-A and LightSail-B • The University of Surrey’s CubeSail, DeorbitSail, and InflateSail
21 LIGHTSAIL-A AND -B (THE PLANETARY SOCIETY)
• 3U Cubesat design • Sail Material: aluminized 4.5 micron Mylar film • 32 square meters solar sail area fully deployed • LightSail-A (2015) and LightSail-B (2016)
22 UNIVERSITY OF SURREY’S INFLATESAIL
♦ InflateSail is an inflatable, rigidizable sail for flight in Low Earth Orbit: ♦ 3U CubeSat with deployed sail area of 10 m2 ♦ Sail supported by bistable booms ♦ Inflation is driven by Cool Gas Fig. 1: InflateSail design concept Generators (CGG): low system mass, long lifespan
Fig. 2: 80 mg CGG George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Near Earth Asteroid Scout
The Near Earth Asteroid Scout Will – Image/characterize a NEA during a slow flyby – Demonstrate a low cost asteroid reconnaissance capability
Key Spacecraft & Mission Parameters • 6U cubesat (20 cm X 10 cm X 30 cm) • ~85 m2 solar sail propulsion system • Manifested for launch on the Space Launch System (EM-1/2017) • Up to 2.5 year mission duration • 1 AU maximum distance from Earth Solar Sail Propulsion System Characteristics • ~ 7.3 m Trac booms • 2.5m aluminized CP-1 substrate • > 90% reflectivity
24 Flight System Overview
Mission • Characterize a Near Earth Asteroid with an Concept optical instrument during a close, slow flyby • Malin Space Science Systems ECAM-M50
Payload imager w/NFOV optics Star Tracker • Static color filters (400-900 nm) Rad Tolerant Avionics LGA NEA Imager (JPL) (JPL) (Blue Canyon) (Malin) • “6U” CubeSat form factor (~10x20x30 cm) Mechanical • <12 kg total launch mass & Structure • Modular flight system concept • ~85 m2 aluminized CP-1 solar sail (based on Propulsion Coarse Sun Sensors Iris 2.0 Transponder NanoSail-D2) (SSBV) (JPL) Avionics • Radiation tolerant LEON3-FT architecture • Simple deployable solar arrays with UTJ GaAs Electrical cells (~35 W at 1 AU solar distance) Power • 6.8 Ah Battery (3s2p 18650 Lithium Cells) System RWA 18650 Lithium Batteries • 10.5-12.3 V unregulated, 5 V/3.5 V regulated (Blue Canyon) (SDL/Panasonic)
• JPL Iris 2.0 X-Band Transponder; 2 W RF SSPAs; supports doppler, ranging, and D-DOR Telecom • 2 pairs of INSPIRE-heritage LGAs (RX/TX) • 8x8 element microstrip array HGA (TX) Solar Sail - Stowed TRAC Boom Assembly • ~500 bps to 34m DSN at 0.8 AU (MSFC) (MSFC)
• 15 mNm-s (x3) & 100 mNm-s RWAs Attitude • Zero-momentum slow spin during cruise Control • VACCO R134a (refrigerant gas) RCS system System • Nano StarTracker, Coarse Sun Sensors & Solar Panels & HGA RCS (MMA/AntDevCo) (VACCO) MEMS IMU for attitude determination NEA Scout Approximate Scale
Deployed Solar Sail
Deployed Solar Sail
Folded, spooled and packaged inhere packaged and spooled Folded, Human
School Bus System StowedFlight6U
26 Solar Sail Mechanical Description
• 4 quadrant sail • 85 m2 reflective area • 2.5 micron CP1 substrate • Z folded and spooled for storage • 2 separate spools with 2 sail quadrants folded onto each • 4 7-meter stainless steel TRAC booms coiled on a mechanical deployer • 2 separate deployers and each deployer releases 2TRAC booms • Motorized boom deployment Spool Assembly
Stowed Sail Membrane
Stowed Motor Booms
Deployer Mechanism
Motor Controller Card 27 Solar Sail Volume Envelope
ACS System
Spooled Sails 130.5mm 140mm Required Allocated 3U Boom Deployers
Avionics/Science
1U 2U
28 Sail Packing Efficiency
Calculated Value: Higher percentage • Fabricated 2 flight size 10m sails from existing 20m CP1 sail. results in tighter • Z-folded and spooled 2 sail quadrants onto the hub. packaging and thus • Calculated new packing efficiency to be 27.5 % more volume margin for design space.
29 Surface Illumination Test
Lunar Flashlight Requires Surface Illumination: • Determine the capabilities of the solar sail in regard to the amount of light that the sail can reflect into the desired 3 degree cone onto a surface.
Light Source Integrating Sphere
30 Lunar Flashlight
• SKG Addressed: Understand the quantity and distribution of water and other volatiles in lunar cold traps • Look for surface ice deposits and identify favorable locations for in-situ utilization • Recent robotic mission data (Mini RF, LCROSS) strongly suggest the presence of ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters.
Sunlight is reflected off the sail down to the lunar surface in a 3 deg beam. Light reflected off the lunar surface enters the spectrometer to distinguish water ices from regolith.
31 What Next?
Out of the ecliptic and over-the-Earth’s pole science
Comet rendezvous
Multiple NEA reconnaissance Solar storm warning
32